Advancing Applied Research: Calls for Interdisciplinary Sophistication and Mixed Methodologies (Part 3/4 - Preister)

CHAIR: PREISTER, Kevin (Ctr for Soc Ecology & Public Policy)

PREISTER, Kevin (Ctr for Soc Ecology & Public Policy) Social Ecology as Social Action Theory: A Model of Empowerment

ABSTRACT: Social Ecology as Social Action Theory: A Model of Empowerment. Insisting on a descriptive approach through entering the routines of daily life, social ecology distinguishes between informal and formal cultural systems in community and organizational settings. The informal networks through which people communicate and support each other, the gathering places for socializing cultural information, the network “archetypes” such as caretakers and communicators, the human geography by which people distinguish one population from another, and the actionable issues that motivate people form the basis of discovery. Action is an outcome of reflection that enhances empowerment through strategies to align informal and formal cultural systems. kevinpreister@gmail.com

Session took place in Albuquerque, NM at the 74^th Annual Meeting of the Society for Applied Anthropology in March 2014.